Black Aria
by Kirishtu
Summary: Two years ago, a crisis threatened the lives of all he held dear. Now faced with another crisis on that scale, Naruto has to use the gifts he was given, risking everything. AU/AR
1. Chapter 1

Originally posted on aff 2009-01-07 - 2009-04-26

I

Tsunade steepled her fingers as she stared out the window, looking at the ashen trees and leaves. She fancied she could see buds, new bark, birds and squirrels in those burned trees, fancied that they were beginning anew just like the village was. The truth was, though, those trees were as dead as the one who had created that fire that had destroyed them, figuratively speaking. Two years ago – had it really only been two years? – Konoha had been attacked out of the blue, unprepared and undefended. Everyone had done their best to protect the non-combatants and the genin, hurrying them to the caves so the jounin could return and fight.

Tsunade herself had been attacked, as had the Council. He'd had them at his mercy – and then had gotten cocky. He'd taken them out of seclusion to a public area, calling out the jounin, the chuunin, even the genin. No one had shown up to the first threat, so he'd tried again. Tsunade knew no Konoha ninja would appear to watch the executions. The genin were under the watchful eyes of the chuunin and jounin and ANBU – and the jounin and ANBU had their orders. The chuunin forced the jounin to follow those orders.

Their orders were to stay away and defend.

On the third threat, someone appeared to stage a rescue. Alone. Naruto aced Sasuke and Sasuke's minions alone to defend the leaders of a village he called home. He hadn't even looked at Tsunade when she'd ordered him to stand down. Naruto hadn't said one word, not even when Sasuke began his rant, when Madara began to sing saccharine lies into his ear, or when one of the Council tried to run for it and got cut in half. Naruto, at sixteen, was only a genin. He wasn't strong enough to take down Sasuke – everyone in the village knew that. Naruto was only hurrying his death and Sasuke seemed all too willing to help him along. Tsunade had screamed in denial when Sasuke had rammed a kunai into Naruto's chest, and screamed again in joy as the shadow clone burst into flames, consuming Sasuke. Tsunade was no fool, though, and watched Sasuke clear the flames with only minor injuries. Naruto reappeared, his face something beautiful. His unnatural sapphire blue eyes were as cold and still as a mountain lake, tinged with only a bit of orange around the pupil. His whisker-like scars had widened, but he hadn't even changed into his demonic form, Tsunade noticed. He was just standing there, watching, waiting.

The moment Sasuke had lunged toward Tsunade, Naruto burst into movement, blinking out of existence without even a puff of smoke and reappearing before Sasuke, chakra exploding from his palms much like the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist. It was enough to knock Sasuke away from Tsunade and give him a nice bruise.

"Naruto! Join us! Together, we could destroy this stupid village! We could rule it!"

Naruto's eyes had only sharpened. Slowly he began to perform a jutsu Tsunade had never seen before, taking step after step forward.

"You don't understand," Naruto whispered, "you don't understand at all."

Tsunade could remember hearing tears in Naruto's voice, years and years of pain piled up on his small shoulders; finally she understood. It was too late though; Naruto unleashed his jutsu and torrents of flame separated Tsunade and the Council from Naruto and Sasuke.

She watched them fight while the Council ran for their lives. Tsunade watched the exchange of words and blows, watched blood flow, and bore witness to the rebirth of the Kyuubi. The nine-tailed beast broke out of the encircling flames and launched itself toward Sasuke, snapping and snarling and Naruto just stood between its ears as if Kyuubi were a normal summon.

Tsunade was aware of the Council staring, and she knew what they were thinking. Naruto had become dangerous. If he could summon the Kyuubi, he needed to be eliminated.

In the end, Sasuke and his group had fled and Naruto and fallen into a coma and was currently still bedridden in the infirmary. Tsunade sighed and leaned back further, closing her eyes. She'd gone through hoops to save that extra-extraordinary boy. He'd been promoted to chuunin during the first few months of his coma – during which his curse seal had been scrutinized to every last detail. Nothing was found. It wasn't broken, wasn't cracked. Only Naruto himself knew what happened and he wasn't talking. Probably wasn't going to.

He'd just woken up two weeks ago, after all, and had been assaulted by all of his friends as if they'd been awaiting his return. He hadn't told them anything and Tsunade knew the Rookie Nine (eight, really) weren't about to push Naruto. Sakura had beaten into all of them just how fragile Naruto really was. How fragile he still is.

A knock sounded at her office door and slowly Tsunade turned herself around, ready to face her next challenge. Iruka slipped through the door, giving the blonde woman a respectful bow.

"How is he?" Tsunade asked.

"Better than he was. He's smiling now."

That was progress, Tsunade agreed silently. He had barely spoken since waking up.

"Has he said anything?" Tsunade had to inquire.

Iruka shook his head. "He says he doesn't remember that day. We've decided to let it be."

'We've' meaning everyone who gave a damn about the blonde chuunin. Which was almost every shinobi in the damn village plus three in Sunagakure. Tsunade sighed.

"I called you here to discuss three students of yours." Tsunade said, offering the chuunin-sensei a manila folder. "I hear they're being plenty of trouble."

"It's amazing they're even going to graduate." Iruka murmured. He took the file, leafing through it slowly, page after page.

"I've decided on a sensei for them." Tsunade began slowly. "However, he doesn't seem inclined to expand his current circle of friends."

Iruka took a moment to stare at the Hokage. "He's not even a jounin. He hasn't even been tested."

"Anyone who can get Kyuubi to obey is already a jounin as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I hear he's been hanging out with Kakashi almost every day."

Iruka's lips thinned.

Of course, he (and others in on it) had known Tsunade would find out. There wasn't a thing that happened in the village without Tsunade knowing.

"When did he pass?" she asked, pinning the chuunin with a decidedly cold stare.

"Yesterday."

"Still not talking?"

Iruka reddened. Tsunade sat back in her chair and sighed. So Naruto was fully healed, if not back to his old self. Surprisingly he hadn't come to see her, but she understood.

"Tell Naruto the Hokage wishes to see him and that if I have to demand, he won't enjoy it."

Iruka looked at the file in his hands and then back at the Hokage. "I'll tell him. He'll come."

Tsunade gave Iruka's back a skeptical look until he turned around and said something that made her heart ache and tears come to her eyes.

"He loves you." Iruka had said. "You're like the mother he never had."

Tsunade put her face in her hands and wept, smiling despite.


	2. Chapter 2

II

"Wake up kit," a rumbly bass voice crooned in his ear. "Iruka's playing messenger for Tsunade-baa-san today."

Naruto stretched and rolled, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He hadn't dreamed last night, which was a good sign, he figured. His dreams had a way of making him paranoid now – especially when they gave him the feeling that he should be remembering something. Rough lips grazed his cheek, accompanied by stubble and hot breath.

He pushed the evil bastard away and groaned. "No, Kyuubi."

There was horrible laughter beside him and the blonde looked up at the man beside. It had taken Naruto a few days to realized that the orange-haired, dreadlocked, tanned, muscular and tall GOD before him was real, not a hallucination as he'd earlier believed. Ever since that day two years ago – whatever had happened - Kyuubi had been able to manifest himself in a human body. A physical, space-taking body. Anyone who saw him (besides dropping dead from the sheer orgasm overload) wouldn't have a clue who Kyuubi was.

They just hadn't decided on an alias.

So Kyuubi could only manifest in Naruto's apartment.

Which worked out well. For Kyuubi, at least.

"You used a henge, didn't you?" Naruto asked, stretching before he rolled out of bed. Kyuubi shot him a glare.

"Do you think me an idiot?"

Since silence was the safest answer, Naruto kept his mouth shut and headed for the shower. Kyuubi sputtered, but he didn't follow this time.

Naruto leaned his forehead against the cool shower tiles and watched water swirl around his feet. There were blank spaces in his memory, as far back as he could remember, as if someone had gone into his brain and erased certain memories, taken them away to pretend as though they'd never happened. The biggest blank was the day two years ago, when Kyuubi and Naruto had perfected a summoning jutsu that blended their chakras together, creating a very convincing illusion – and what allowed Kyuubi to manifest in a human body.

Naruto remembered Haku – but couldn't remember why he and Haku had been fighting. There had been someone else there, someone important, but…

He couldn't remember.

"Pruning yet?" Kyuubi's voice broke through the eighteen-year-old's thoughts, and the boy turned his head slightly to see the hazy image of the demon fox looking at him through the stall door.

Kyuubi was another mystery to Naruto. Despite exuding pure sex, Kyuubi hadn't touched him in a sexual way. Of course, the man's cock practically jumped to attention when Naruto did anything that showed off his ass, and the fact that Kyuubi would rather use his hand than deflower his vessel certainly said something. The only problem was that the young chuunin couldn't figure out what it meant.

"Did Iruka-nii say what the harpy wanted?" Naruto asked upon emerging from the shower.

"Only that the Hokage demanded your presence."

Great. So he was either in trouble or having a psych evaluation. Naruto dressed quickly, pausing only to run a hand over the curse seal on his stomach, and waited for Kyuubi to get comfortable in his head once again before heading out to the Hokage's tower. People grinned and waved at him – civilians, other ninja – and Naruto could only grin and wave back even though he had no idea what he was waving for. When he made it to the tower, Naruto felt like crawling into a bolt hole and just staying there. Shizune, however, had other ideas.

She latched onto him like a lamprey and dragged him to Tsunade's office. She said nothing, only grinned and shoved him in.

*There are reasons why we fear them.* Kyuubi said. *When they grin like that, it means they know something we don't.*

Which is generally all the time. Naruto thought sourly. He approached the desk slowly, having already calculated all possible escapes routes and how to avoid being snagged by the waiting ANBU.

"You're not in trouble, Naruto. Relax." Tsunade said in a voice that could douse a fire.

"If I'm not in trouble and obviously, you don't have any missions for me, why am I here?"

"For one thing, I've missed your constant chatter in my ear and you hiding in your apartment isn't doing your healing a whole lot of good."

"I'm fine."

"Physically, yes. Mentally." Tsunade trailed off for a moment. "You have memory loss, don't you?"

"I told Sakura that," Naruto replied defensively. Tsunade sighed and sat back in her chair, rubbing her temples.

"How substantial is your memory loss?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Just answer the damn question!" Tsunade snapped.

Naruto glared at his leader for a moment before shrugging. "I remember being ordered to stay back and protect the genin and then waking up in the hospital."

Tsunade seemed almost relieved. "Anything else?"

Naruto paused. "No," he said finally. "That's it."

The Hokage stared at him for a while before nodding. "I'm aware Kakashi's been training you."

"How'd you – no, he's not."

"Naruto, please. I'm the Hokage. I know everything."

Naruto's joking smile made Tsunade feel better. If he was smiling, happy, then any subsequent memory loss was only a good thing.

"Since you're being trained for ANBU, I thought it would be appropriate for you to be promoted to jounin rank."

Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Tsunade did her best to hider her smile. The boy already had the paranoia down pat.

"No test?" Naruto asked slowly. Tsunade shook her head.

"It was a consensus, really. You're ready for it, after all."

"I sense a but."

"Of course, you'll have training. A crash course, really. I advise you to pack a bag of the essentials and find Iruka."

Naruto blinked. "Why?"

Tsunade smiled wryly. "Because that's where you'll find Kakashi."

Oh. Wonderful.

Naruto sighed and turned to leave, already imagining the pain of getting the signature ANBU mark when Tsunade stopped him.

"Naruto, you know you can always talk to me. All of your friends, we're here for you. We want to protect you too."

Naruto smiled gently at the Hokage and left without replying. He didn't need to; Tsunade understood. She sighed and looked at the manila folder on her desk, decorated with paint fingerprints and Iruka's handwriting.

Having genin had helped Kakashi open up to people. Maybe giving Naruto some would help him, too.

She just didn't know how.

"Shizune," Tsunade called after a moment. "Could you find Shikamaru for me? I need him to run a few errands for me."


	3. Chapter 3

III

Naruto had to admit ANBU training was fun – if it wasn't Ibiki setting down the regimen. You wanted to like the guy, you really did, but he was just such a hard-ass that if made liking him impossible. And, of course, word of him making jounin tank spread like wildfire throughout the village, and just about ever single one of his friends gave him some sort of gift. The greatest gift, though, had come in the form of information. Thankfully, the idiot Rock Lee had made the announcement after Naruto had finished getting the ANBU tattoo or else Naruto would have been pissed. And bloody.

Genin. Naruto was to train genin. No missions of jounin rank, but errands.

Dammit.

Naruto adjusted his jacket's collar and crouched on a tree branch that overlooked the Academy playground. He told himself he was only spying on Iruka and Kyuubi spent a good half-hour laughing at him.

He didn't want genin.

He wanted to remember what he couldn't.

"Yo."

Dammit.

Naruto turned to look up at Kakashi, still admiring the way the man could read porn and seem like he was paying attention. Of course, the book he was reading was several years out of date and the last in the series. A wonderful heirloom.

"Yo." Naruto replied with perfect inflection, shifting just a bit so his sensei could sit. Kakashi's single eye searched his face, and the blonde couldn't help the recoil.

"Naruto."

"I'm fine."

"No." Kakashi said. "you're not fine. You haven't been around people and have been normal."

"What is normal?" Naruto asked. "You and Iruka know I can't remember what happened, just like you know who I can't remember. No one is tilling mean anything and suddenly I'm going to be responsible – personally responsible – for three lives. I'm only eighteen! I can't do this!"

"Yes you can." Kakashi replied. "You're the youngest jounin we have, the youngest ANBU. You defeated single-handedly a threat to Tsunade and Konoha. You can't remember because you're not ready to remember, and you don't even know who your team is yet."

Naruto frowned and looked away from the elder shinobi. "I'm not who I was."

"We know that." Kakashi sighed. "You have many friends, Naruto. You have people who care about you. You've pushed them all away, and I don't want you becoming like me."

They shared a long silence, Naruto staring at the emptying playground as Kakashi scanned the branches. Finally Naruto reached out to hug his former sensei and Kakashi returned the gesture after a moment.

You're not alone, Kyuubi said softly. I'll be helping you.

"If you're afraid," Kakashi said, "you can call one of us."

Naruto pulled back and smiled. "I'll be alright. I think I'll go find Sakura. She needs a good punch in the shoulder."

Naruto vanished then, and Iruka dropped his Kakashi-henge Naruto had seen through it, of course, just as Iruka had seen through Kyuubi's henge. Of course, Iruka hadn't said a word to anyone about Kyuubi – and Naruto didn't remember showing Iruka the ability – and as long as Naruto was happy Iruka couldn't say anything. But he desperately wished he could tell Naruto about Sasuke. Sighing, because he knew that wasn't a possibility, Iruka transported himself back to his classroom to observe the three Naruto was to train.

"He knows." Kyuubi groused, sprawling out on the hospital's roof. "he has to know." Kyuubi didn't bother to add that Iruka had known.

Naruto nibble a cracker. "Iruka's not going to say anything."

"Of course not. But he's right, you know. You're not the same as you ere – you lost a year of your life and you haven't fully recovered mentally. They're fast-tracking your training for this coming graduation and you only woke up a month ago."

"I want to tell Sakura," Naruto whispered. Kyuubi tensed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"She's a medic nin and my best friend. Besides, even if she does tell… who'd believe her? And I'd rather tell someone who could keep panic to a minimum should anything get out of hand."

Kyuubi sighed, conceding the point. Too much shit had happened that Naruto couldn't remember, and now life was hitting him hard. His friends had lives of their own; missions weren't falling in his lap' and his goal (whatever it had been) had been wiped from his mind. Naruto had nothing to do and while Kyuubi could easily fix that (and he badly wanted to) he knew Naruto wasn't ready. Mentally he was; physically, not so much. A few more weeks though, and his kit wouldn't be able to walk right.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked suddenly. "Who's that?"

The blonde jounin looked up a the pink-haired kunoichi with impossibly innocent blue eyes. "Kyuubi."

Kyuubi watched Sakura try not to fall down. She sat slowly beside Naruto, silent for a while. Then she rounded on the poor blonde.

"Are you nuts? If anyone else knew who he was, you'd be lucky to see the light of day!"

Naruto blinked. "You're not afraid?"

"Why would I be?" Sakura huffed. "For one, he's drop-dead gorgeous, and for two, he's part of you."

"Not really," Kyuubi quipped.

"You know what I meant," Sakura snapped.

Naruto laughed, which certainly lifted his company's hearts. Sakura shifted to face Naruto as the blonde slowly began t talk. This, Sakura decided as she sat with her friend on the hospital roof, was exactly what he had needed.

Kyuubi couldn't have agreed more.


	4. Chapter 4

IV

"Are you afraid?" Sakura asked Naruto that morning. He hadn't replied, instead looking toward Kyuubi who reclined so regally in a chair.

Months had gone by, and while Naruto's memory wasn't any better, he seemed to be back to normal. For him. His friends had all been informed of Kyuubi's apparent physical existence, but for Naruto's sake he never appeared during Council meetings. And, also for Naruto's sake, Tsunade had quietly ordered all the secret-keepers to keep their traps shut or else.

An 'or else' coming from Tsunade was like a horde of killer bees seeking out a specific baby. It was damn scary.

Naruto had looked at Sakura and adjusted his flak jacket, silent for a while. "…Yes."

She had sat with the pair then before Kyuubi kindly escorted her out the door. Then he turned to look at his jinchuuriki, moving finally to pull off that irritating vest and help the blonde into his customary orange and black jacket. "You'll be fine. And besides, they're only twelve." Kyuubi said, looking at Naruto's reflection. The boy's blue eyes were cold, concentrating, and only when he looked up at Kyuubi did some warmth return to his eyes.

"They still outnumber me."

"Pull a Kakashi. Do that stupid bell test."

"I have a different idea. And anyway, if I did that, I'd be cited for plagiarism."

"He would, wouldn't he?" Kyuubi asked grouchily. Naruto laughed.

"Any chance to get into Iruka's pants will be sought after like a rabid dog."

Kyuubi shook his head. "Hurry up and go meet your students, sensei."

"Shikamaru's gonna be so jealous." Naruto said after Kyuubi had settled in his brain again. Kyuubi's raw amusement made him smile on his way to the Academy where the jounin-senseis were able to spy on their teams. He wasn't surprised to be joined by several of his friends, each wearing the uniform Naruto was supposed to be wearing.

However, considering it was Naruto, 'normal' was whatever Naruto decided it was.

So Hinata sidled over to her friend and cocked her head at him, trying to smile. "Going against the machine?" she asked.

"All the time." Naruto replied. "How are you doing?"

"I'm going to change after I see who my team is and then I'm going to find Hanabi and kill her."

"Now, now. You're sisters."

"All the more reason then." Hinata sighed. "She's been a pain ever since she made it to chuunin."

"Weren't she and Konohamaru…?" Naruto railed of. Hinata just looked at him, and the blonde quickly decided his toes were interesting.

"Changing the subject," Hinata said with a smile, "what do you plan to do after seeing your team?"

"Find a hole and hide in it." Once Hinata had finished laughing up a lung, Naruto shrugged. "Test them, I guess. Tsunade will probably try to get us the hell out of the village."

"Why?"

"Save herself a headache. Besides, I haven't been able to leave the village unless it's under armed escort."

Hinata only nodded, for she'd been part of that 'armed escort' when Naruto's ANBU squad went for training.

"Hey, here they come."

Hinata and Naruto turned to look at the emerging genin, all holding up brand new hitai-ates to misty-eyed parents. All the jounin-senseis only had to look or a specific mark on the hitai-ate to find their team, and upon finding his, Naruto felt like he was going to be ill. He fled before Hinata could ask him what was wrong.

- Red eyes, the colour of blood, glaring hatred and fear and loathing -

Naruto clutched at his head, his brain pounding against his skull, wanting out. He felt Kyuubi holding onto him, trying to talk to him, asking him to calm down but he couldn't because his memories were flooding back with astounding clarity and –

Kyuubi's lips were rough against his own, the demon pressing Naruto back against a tree trunk, biting at his lips to get entry and begin a series of small tears, smearing blood between them. Kyuubi only pulled back when Naruto stopped struggling and stared at him, panting.

"Sasuke." Naruto whispered, tears slowly sliding down his cheeks. "I forgot Sasuke."

Kyuubi hissed. "That bastard doesn't deserve to be remembered. You may not remember that day, but I do, as does everyone else who loves you. He tried to kill you Naruto. He almost succeeded."

Naruto just simply looked at Kyuubi. The demon fox enfolded Naruto in his arms and let the young shinobi cry.

Kyuubi could only wonder what the hell was going on, why it had to be Naruto going through this pain, and just what really happened to make Naruto's memory come back so suddenly. He felt his jinchuuriki relax against him and gave the boy a few more moments to compose himself.

"Everyone knows," Naruto whispered, "that you can manifest. Everyone knows what happened that day. No one will tell me and that's okay. But don't let them find out that I remember Sasuke."

Kyuubi blinked. "Why?"

Naruto looked up at him, his blue eyes subtlety different somehow. Kyuubi could only grin maniacally when he saw the difference, the nearly invisible white tomoe.

"Itachi planned for every contingency, didn't he?"

Naruto smiled, straightened, and blinked once to dismiss Itachi's gift to him. "He was a genius, after all."

Kyuubi could only shake his head. It all made sense now. He'd only seen the technique before – once, when he was very young – and the receiver hadn't survived through the memory loss. It was a technique that was so rare barely anyone knew it existed, which had allowed Itachi to get away with it. Essentially, the giver transferred an ability to the receiver that the receiver normally wouldn't obtain. In Naruto's case, a Sharingan for jutsu only the Uchiha clan could use. But it was a gamble. Memories were taken in exchange for the ability, but there had to be some innate ability to be able to use the offered technique.

Which meant wither Naruto had Uchiha blood in his veins or he was simply that determined to live.

But it was a double-edged sword. The Sharingan Naruto now possessed had stolen his memories, had given them back, and it seemed so ridiculous that it couldn't possibly be true. However, as Kyuubi reflected, the signs had been there all along. The coma, the hermit period, the emotional distancing, memory loss – these all pointed to that special jutsu. And Naruto had survived it.

The thing was that while everyone knew of Kyuubi and had come to accept it along with the realization that Naruto would still be unable to remember certain events, if they knew Naruto remembered Sasuke and had this Sharingan, he would become the study of every village's head medic.

Not to mention he'd have an even bigger target on his back for his enemies.

"Are you going to name it something?" Kyuubi finally asked.

Naruto muttered something pithy and then sighed. "Eventually. For now, let's go get my odd genin and start a few training exercises."

"Like?"

"You'll have to wait and see, now, won't you?"


	5. Chapter 5

V

Being part of the Hyuuga family was a great honour. Even if you were from a minor branch you still had the respect of the major branch and Hinata-sama or Neji-sama would always be willing to help train you in the family techniques and the Byakugan. However, in Hyuuga Akito's case, being part of the Hyuuga family was a constant reminder of how much of a failure he was. At twelve years old it was to be expected – no required – that he have a fully developed Byakugan. His cousin had their s appear at twelve and while some didn't want to keep the Byakugan active or couldn't because they had plans to be something other than combat-ninja, they still had the honour of having a Byakugan.

Akito, at twelve, hadn't had one inkling of being a carrier of a Byakugan.

And his cousins made him feel that sting time and time again.

So he'd pushed himself through the Academy, studied and trained his ass off and come away with the highest marks of his class. It had gotten him labeled as a know-it-all failure and had alienated him even more from his family. Even his parents couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, blaming each other. Their fighting had become so intense that by Hiashi-sama's decree, they were to live in separate houses.

And while Hinata-sama and Neji-sama and Hanabi-sama were always ready to play with Akito, he knew they would rather be somewhere else than be seen playing with a Hyuuga clan failure.

So to be placed on a genin team headed by the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was the worst thing that the Hokage could have done to him. No. Akito shook his head. That wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that he was stuck on a team that included the Academy's aptly dubbed 'idiot' and one of the most popular girls in school. Being trained by Naruto-san would be a godsend compared to living with Akabane Ryouji and Hirumi Haruko. Akito sighed, pupil-less eyes on his two teammates and wondering what, exactly, the Hokage had been thinking while she made team assignments.

While Akito was seen as the smartest of his class and thereby being ostracized to the point of wanting to commit suicide, his teammates were nearly to the opposite end of the spectrum.

Ryouji had the rebel look going for him from his wild black hair to his mirth filled green eyes. He always had an 'I'm game' grin plastered to his face and was constantly wearing obnoxious clothing. Lime green pants and a pink tee-shirt covered by a patchwork and duct tape jacket, followed by a dark blue choker that should have been a dog collar in another life. His hitai ate was tied haphazardly around his thigh and goggles had somehow adhered themselves to his head.

Haruko was nice to the point of cruelty. Originally from Amegakure, her family had moved to Konoha three years ago because her mother had been offered a better paying job as a nurse at the hospital. Haruko had the tendency to make a simple white like into a full-blown epic, which made her the Academy's own gossip girl. She was shallow and far too concerned with what colour her hair should be (which was dyed purple at the present moment) than with what she could, and should, be learning.

Which, basically meant Team Four was made of epic fail.

"Hey, hey, where's sensei, eh?" Ryouji asked.

"Late." Haruko said with a sniff. "He's not e very good sensei if he's late."

Akito rolled his eyes, even though the gesture was useless. Did they even know who their sensei was? Naruto-sand was probably watching them right now, deciding whether or not to bother with hem. After all, the three of them had no hope of even making it to chuunin let alone complete a mission higher than D rank.

"So if he doesn't show," Haruko began, "what do we do?"

"We can go find someone to bother." Ryouji said brightly. He turned to Akito and nudged him. "Right?"

"Don't be an idiot." Akito replied, looking away from the other boy.

Ryouji frowned and folded his hands behind his head. "You're an ass. Oh. Wait. I know you. You're Hyuuga Akito, the only one without a Byakugan, right?"

Akito didn't bother to answer. Haruko began to laugh and the Hyuuga boy wanted to punch her. However, Ryouji was quick to throw his arm around the taller boy's shoulders and grin.

"We're gonna be the best team ever!"

Akito shrugged Ryouji's arm off and settled for glaring uselessly as Haruko fluffed her hair. "We aren't even a team yet. Our sensei isn't here. Besides, I heard that he was some failure ninja himself and went crazy."

"Are you that starved for attention?" Naruto asked from behind Haruko. The girl yelped and whirled, grey eyes wide at the sighed o the man behind her.

"I- I-" Haruko stuttered.

"Save it." Naruto said, straightening to clasp his hands behind his back. "Just because you're younger and a girl doesn't meant I don't get to wallop you."

"You can't!" Haruko said, fuming.

"Of course he can," Akito said with a slight sneer. "He's our sensei."

"WHAT?!"

Naruto sighed and looked toward Akito. "They always like this?"

The Hyuuga boy shrugged, flushed, and looked away from his sensei. Ryouji grinned widely and bounced over the blonde jounin, saluting him before rocking back on his heels.

"You're, like, the coolest shinobi ever!" Ryouji blurted. All my class ever asked Iruka-sensei about was you!"

"Good for me." Naruto replied blandly. "It's too bad you three aren't even qualified to be genin."

"Wh-what?"

"Yes we are!" Haruko shouted. "We passed the test; we have hitai-ates! We're genin!"

Akito saw something dangerous flash in their sensei's eyes. The Hyuuga boy swallowed nervously and stepped forward, feeling braver than he felt. "Why aren't we qualified?"

Naruto actually seemed to ponder the question. "Well, you're a Hyuuga and don't have a Byakugan. Ryouji's uncontrollable and an idiot, and Haruko only appears cares only about appearances."

The worst part was that Naruto had answered with a smile. The three genin just stared at their sensei, unable to speak.

"However," Naruto continued "if you can prove me wrong by noon, I'll tell the Hokage that you're ready."

Ryouji glared at the taller man and shoved a finger toward their sensei's mouth. Akito wondered if the black haired boy knew just how close his finger was to Naruto's teeth. "We'll prove you wrong! Just watch!"

Naruto's smile became just shy of creepy. "All right. I want you three to find me the Whistling Stone."

"Fine!" Ryouji snapped. "Let's go!"

Both he and Haruko disappeared in a puff of smoke to begin their search, leaving Naruto and Akito alone. The brunette boy looked up at his sensei, frowning.

"There's no such thing as a Whistling Stone." Akito said quietly.

Naruto placed his hand comfortingly on the genin's head. "And since you're the only one who realized that, you're going to help me."

Akito tried not to beam in joy.


	6. Chapter 6

VI

Akito crouched beside his sensei, both watching the other pair try and find the 'Whistling Stone'. Akito didn't know what to say, really. Naruto-sensei had explained to him that he needed to see how everyone worked together, wanted to see if they could handle failure. Ryouji and Haruko had already failed the 'work together' part when they had left Akito behind.

But Naruto knew why they had acted as they had. Akito knew why too.

The three of them were misfits, just like their sensei had been.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked. Akito slowly nodded. "All right. You know what to do. Lead them to the forest and I'll take it from there."

Akito swallowed and looked at his sensei, earning a little smile. Then Naruto was gone, and Akito had to play his part. Taking a deep breath, the Hyuuga boy launched himself from his hiding place, sailing over the heads of people, looking for his teammates. Steeling himself, as he passed by, he shouted his practiced words.

"I found it! This way!"

And just like Naruto-sensei had predicted, Ryouji and Haruko raced to follow him, pass him, and disappear into the woods. Akito landed on a tree branch and watched his teammates vanish into the shadows. Genin-rank they may be, but ninja they weren't. Friends, they weren't. Competitors.

And that was why they would fail.

Naruto-sensei was just too kind to tell them that.

Haruko shoved Ryouji forward, only to throw herself off balance and land in a heap in an open clearing as Ryouji pressed on. The young kunoichi yelled in frustration and struggled to her feet. Her ankle protested this action, however, and down she went again, fighting not to cry. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair that she should have to do this test, that she should be second to a by! Haruko wasn't supposed to lose. She was supposed to win and be the strongest kunoichi ever. This was what her mother had told her. She couldn't rely on men, on others, only herself.

Haruko sat there, trying so hard not to cry. But the tears came anyway and she blamed them on the pain in her ankle.

Her mother had moved to Konoha from Amegakure. Her father had left them for his mistress and her mother had changed. Haruko only wanted to please her mother, to avoid vicious harangues about the stronger sex, and prove to her mother she was worth something. That was why she dyed her hair – because it was naturally a grey-blonde, her father's colour – and as long as she looked like her father, she was useless, worthless.

The reason she didn't have any friends was because Haruko was a compulsive liar, exaggerating everything to the point of make-believe. No one really liked her. She had through she would be okay with that, but she wasn't.

"Are you okay?"

Haruko looked up at Akito, seeing those pupilless moonlight eyes narrow in concern. He crouched before she could tell him to go away and examined her ankle, gently binding it before helping her stand.

"Why?" Haruko asked as the Hyuuga moved to support her. The shorter boy sighed.

"You're my teammate. We have to rely on one another to survive."

"We're not friends." Haruko snapped.

"No," Akito replied softly. "We're not."

Still, the Hyuuga boy helped her move, both working to catch up to Ryouji. Haruko kept her silence, refusing to let her 'teammate' see her weakness.

They caught up to Ryouji soon enough, finding him on his back with an ANBU stepping on his throat. Haruko felt Akito tense and knew if they didn't do something, Ryouji was going to die. She looked at Akito when he set her down, running at full speed then toward the ANBU, trying to save someone he didn't like. The ANBU stepped back to avoid the blow and backhanded Akito into Ryouji sending both to the ground.

But Akito kept trying to protect Ryouji, kept trying to deflect the attacks of the stronger shinobi. Why? Haruko wanted to scream. Why would you risk your life for someone so weak?

"It's precisely because they're weak that we protect them," Naruto said from beside her. Haruko jerked her head up to look at the jounin, finding him watching the boys. "Enough!"

The ANBU nodded and hauled each kid up over his shoulder, dropping them before Naruto before the shadow clone disappeared. Naruto stared at each genin from eye level before sighing.

"You're all under the impression that succeeding means winning." Naruto began. "You think you need personal strength, power, to prove yourselves to others, but you don't."

"There wasn't a stone was there?" Haruko asked. Naruto shook his head.

"You three have a lot of work to do. None of you worked as a team, or showed any concern whatsoever about working together. I can't teach you if you don't understand this lesson. I'm afraid all of you are going to have to give up the genin rank."

"Test use again!" Ryouji blurted. "Please!"

Naruto only stood and shook his head. "Come find me when you understand what power truly means. Until then, you're no longer genin. Team Four no longer exists."

Naruto was gone then, leaving the three children alone. Haruko felt the prick of tears and fought the need to cry. Ryouji was speechless, and Akito only bowed his head in shame. They'd failed. All of them, together, had failed.

"That was a little harsh, kit," Kyuubi said, looking down at the blonde jinchuuriki, who crouched on the branch, watching the genin.

"It was necessary. Haruko needs to realize she can rely on others; Ryouji needs to realize his actions have consequences; and Akito needs to have more confidence. They all need to understand that they are all each other have."

"They're kids."

"So am I."

Kyuubi sighed, conceding. The three genin needed to understand true power came from protecting those you loved, not yourself. That was how Naruto's team had failed when he was their age, and that was why Naruto wouldn't teach the genin he had now until they realized that. Naruto was special. He had a special power about him that allowed him to change the way people felt. He had the power to make friends from enemies, and make people feel important.

Kyuubi knew Naruto would be the best Hokage that Konohagakure had ever seen.

"How long are you going to make them wait?" Kyuubi asked finally. Naruto rose with a shrug.

"As long as it takes them to understand."

Kyuubi gave a slashing glare to Naruto. Naruto slashed a glare at Kyuubi. How long the two stood staring each other and down, they didn't know, but it was finally broken when three timid voices asked the same question at the same time.

"Naruto-sensei?"


	7. Chapter 7

VII

Naruto stared down at his genin, quite aware that they weren't looking at him. Still, he sighed, silently told Kyuubi to behave himself or get lost (to which Kyuubi replied "Get bent.") and dropped from his branch to stand before the three. He folded his arms and waited. Ryouji was the first to apologize, then Haruko and Akito. The blonde jounin could only sigh and crouch to look at them, an easy, forgiving smile on his face.

"Do you understand?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, sensei," the three replied just as quietly.

"We have to be a team," said Ryouji.

Haruko followed. "We have to compliment each other, cover each other's weaknesses with our strengths."

"And we have to trust each other to watch each other's backs," Akito finished.

The five stood in silence for a while, the genin fighting not to break out in a collective cold sweat. Finally, Naruto nodded.

"Most of all," their sensei said, "you need to care about each other. You're a family now, not just individuals grouped together."

The three looked at each other and then back to their sensei and the stranger. Naruto gave a sigh. "Go pack your bags for a week-long trip. Our first mission starts tomorrow."

The kids grinned at each other, then at Naruto, and vanished in a huge cloud of smoke and burning ozone. Kyuubi set a hand on Naruto's shoulder, leaning in close to his ear.

"Your mission," Kyuubi growled, "starts now."

Naruto looked at the biju with a slight smile. "I thought I told you to get lost."

Kyuubi snarled and captured his jinchuuriki's mouth with his own, shoving him against the three trunk. He tasted blood, pulled back, and stared at the ruby red liquid beading on Naruto's lip. "I'll give you 'til the count of three. When I catch you, you're mine." Kyuubi growled with barely contained lust. Naruto, horrible little boy he was, gave him an impish, impudent smile, and blinked out of existence.

Kyuubi's lips spread into a feral grin. Tonight, oh yes, tonight, Naruto's ass was his.

Two years. Two long, terrible years of recovery and training, of recruiting in silence. His wounds still hadn't fully healed, and would never heal he knew. The fire of the nine-tailed fox had seen to that. It only fueled his need, his desire, for revenge. It was almost time. He would wipe Konoha from the face of the earth, grind Suna into the desert and destroy the other villages before they even had a chance to retaliate against him. Then his hand would rule the shadows, killing any and all who stood in their way.

Sasuke gingerly touched the scars on his face and neck. He didn't even recognize himself in the mirror sometimes, and he knew how much he repulsed his comrades. But they stayed, even Madara, because they knew that this time, victory would be theirs.

Konoha had become lax in their security since that day two years ago, and all Sasuke had to do was wait for the right moment. It wouldn't be long now.

When Konohagakure was finally his, Sasuke knew exactly what his first order of business would be. Naruto wouldn't be able to escape him this time. Sasuke wasn't aware he'd begun laughing until he heard the sandal scuff outside the chamber. He had a good idea of who it was, but he didn't bother to make sure. He'd need to scapegoat when this was over, and Madara had just about outlived his usefulness.

Uchiha Madara wasn't really evil – okay, he was, but he had reasons to be evil. And it was more like an anti-hero, you–hate-to-love-him evil, that downright sadistic kind of evil. He'd done what he'd done for the village that turned its back on him and his family, for his brother, and while power was certainly nice, Madara had understood there was always a price.

He was always willing to pay that price, too.

So he'd thrown in his lot with Sasuke, outwitted Itachi, and became an influence in Sasuke's life. Too much so, he realized. And now it was far too late to counteract or undermine the plans. Sasuke had changed drastically over the past two years. He'd gone from wanting to destroy just the top shinobi to the whole damn occupation. Madara couldn't allow that. Not when there was a way to defeat him. Someone to defeat him.

Madara didn't regret his actions. They had brought him to be where he was today and now they would help him design the future. He knew, though, that he wouldn't be around to see it.


	8. Chapter 8

VIII

Something fragile wobbled and crashed. Naruto was sure it had been a vase and there would be a puddle on the floor come morning. But he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment, not when Kyuubi was making him appreciate all the tricks the demon could do with his tongue.

Naruto yipped when Kyuubi bit his inner thigh, making a bright purple bruise. The blonde half-heartedly tugged at a fistful of dreadlocks in protest and mewled when that evil, evil bastard ran his tongue up Naruto's straining erection to make a few passing licks to the very tip. The biju had pounced on Naruto not a moment after the human had retreated to his apartment, literally ripping off his clothes before the door had even shut properly.

Now, the blonde was naked, littered with bruises, covered with sweat, and was perched on the back of the couch with his legs on Kyuubi's shoulders. His cheeks were flushed with blood from sheer embarrassment at his inability to do anything and the fact Kyuubi was purring horribly arousing things, mostly about being the one to pop Naruto's 'cherry'.

Kyuubi was a connoisseur of painful pleasure, and he knew just how to apply enough of each to make Naruto beg for more. But Naruto, irritating chit that he was, refused to beg for anything more than tongue and the fingers that drilled mercilessly deeper into his body. So Kyuubi continued to torture him using his tongue and fingers until Naruto's head hit the wall with a resounding 'thunk' and the boy moaned deliciously for him.

Not even missing a beat, Kyuubi pulled the blonde into his arms and dropped the kid on the couch, head tilting so his eyes could catch what little light was getting into the den. At Naruto's sharp intake of breath, Kyuubi could only grin.

"You know what to do, Naruto," Kyuubi purred.

He could only grin at the glare Naruto gave him and simply waited. He didn't have to wait long, no, and he almost – almost – regretted teasing his jinchuuriki when Naruto took his sweet, sweet time pulling off Kyuubi's pants and fisting him. Kyuubi jerked up on Naruto's head, positive he'd ripped out a few of those blonde strands.

"Bite me again, Naru, and you're going to live long enough to regret it." Kyuubi snarled.

"You wouldn't kill me," Naruto replied as he learned down to lick the bitten flesh.

Kyuubi gave a sighing purr. "And why not?"

"Who would you fuck then?"

"I can think of a few people."

"Name one." Kyuubi remained silent. Naruto laughed and dragged his tongue up the biju's ever-hardening erection. "That's what I thought."

Kyuubi gave a dangerous snarl then and grabbed Naruto's shoulders, holding him still as he glared into the boy's eyes. He didn't say a word, only slowly began to grin until he could smell the uncertainty coming from Naruto. Without even giving his – his – lover warning, Kyuubi lifted Naruto up just slightly and brought him down hard on his straining cock. Naruto screamed and muffled the sound by sinking his teeth into Kyuubi's shoulder, clinging to the elder as skin tore to accommodate the biju. Kyuubi growled; a low, threatening sound that was meant as a claim, a warning to anyone else who would make a pass at his jinchuuriki, and gave Naruto scant seconds to recover before he began to move, pounding the smaller blonde into the couch cushions. Naruto could only cry out and with, his position not allowing for much movement on his part. As if Kyuubi knew this, knew that he had the blonde completely at his mercy, Kyuubi's hips moved harder into Naruto's until the boy was sure he'd broken something.

But the sounds were of sticky, sweaty flesh slapping together and pulling apart, not bone cracking with the force of a biju's barely contained lust.

Then Naruto's world changed as lights exploded behind his eyes. His nails scraped down Kyuubi's back, eliciting a pleasured hiss from the elder. Kyuubi rolled then, bringing Naruto above him and pulling him down, giving the flushed kid a grin that should've set women's panties on fire.

"Ride me, Naruto."

The blonde was still only for a moment, and then he braced his hands on Kyuubi's chest, his knees against the cushions, and lifted his hips, only to bring them down again, driving Kyuubi deeper inside of him. He closed his eyes, focused on the feel of the cock inside him, on the feel of Kyuubi's nails pricking his hips, and then the feel of –

Naruto screamed soundlessly. There really wasn't any other way to describe it. Kyuubi shifted just slightly and wham! – Naruto's world exploded, shattered into a million little pieces of colour and emotion and noise, of Kyuubi goading him on through his orgasm. His body locked up, muscles squeezing, toes curling, and then he just slumped, a rag doll that took a few more hard thrusts from his lover before Kyuubi's breath hitched and Naruto felt his insides sting with the salty liquid of Kyuubi's semen.

He slumped over Kyuubi's chest, the two panting practically in unison. Kyuubi nuzzled Naruto's cheek, very carefully maneuvering the younger male off of his flagging erection. The biju soothed Naruto's abused hole with his tongue, cleaning him free of seed oh so gently and purring the entire time. He knew if Naruto hadn't been so utterly exhausted, the kid would've gone another round or three. But they had a mission come morning and his beautiful kit needed to recover.

So there wasn't any objection to sleeping on the couch, and Naruto didn't quite seem to care so long as he was snuggled up to Kyuubi's side. Kyuubi decided there wasn't any other place he'd rather be than right here.

The demon silently thanked the Yondaime then, for trapping him within the body of his mate.


	9. Chapter 9

IX

Haruko hopped on her left foot as she tied her sandal in place, excited to be the first one down by the gate that morning. The idea of going on a mission – a real mission with her sensei and friends! – hadn't let her even begin to feel sad that her mother hadn't kissed her good-bye this morning. She hadn't dyed her hair to a different colour that morning, allowing the grey-blonde to show through. And besides, her mother had most certainly heard of her friendship with her teammates.

"Hey! Haruko!"

The kunoichi looked up from her sandal to see Ryouji, grinning away like an idiot as he ran toward her, Akito following at a more respectable pace.

Haruko liked Ryouji because he was always happy, even if he was a bit of an idiot. Akito she could get along with, but every time she tried to make a conversation with him, he clammed up. She wondered if Akito was gay. Or maybe just allergic to talking.

Ryouji dropped his pack beside Haruko's and stretched, shoving his goggles into their customary perch a moment later. He grinned at Akito when the Hyuuga boy set his satchel down and Haruko fancied she saw Akito blush. He hid it behind the curtain of his dark hair, so she really wasn't positive. Still, it made a very nice mental image.

"Is Naruto-sensei late again" Ryouji whined. "I wanna go already!"

Akito snorted. "He has to get clearance form the Hokage and the gate ninja."

"So he's late," Haruko said, earning a slight glare from the Hyuuga. She shrugged. "Any way you wanna justify it, he's still late."

"Now, now." Naruto said once he'd materialized, smiling at his genin. "You can't be late if there's no designated time to be late for."

The three genin tried - and failed – not to jump in surprise. Naruto sighed.

"Maybe we should stay here," he said, mocking sadness.

Three voices shouted a vehement "NO!"

Naruto held up his hands in surrender and smiled at the three before him. But then his face subtlety shifted, his smile a bit more dangerous. And because they'd been trained to sense the change, the genin stood at attention, eyes focused on their sensei.

Naruto simply clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak. "I expect you to behave properly. Most importantly, respect yourselves, each other, and those you're going to be working for. Do not talk back or fight back unless your lives absolutely depend on it. Once you walk out those doors, you cease to be individual genin and become a team. You're representing Konoha out there, and things you might get away with in here won't be tolerated out there. Am I clear?"

Three small heads bobbed in unison. Naruto smiled that friendly smile again, signaling he was done being serious. Chattering amongst themselves – mostly with Akito keeping his tongue behind his teeth until someone made a stupid comment – the genin hauled up their packs and dutifully followed their sensei from the village and out into the real world.

Madara grit his teeth and tried not to let his agitation show through his body language. He hadn't been left alone for a moment, always required to be by Sasuke's side even though the boy had nothing for him do to. It was simply because Sasuke didn't want Madara to do anything 'foolish' he knew. But the brat couldn't stop him all the time; despite the risk, Madara would continue to work on his jutsu, trying to pretend to be doing something different. He wasn't pulling the wool over anyone's eyes though, deny and pretend all he liked, the message was clear: If you go against Sasuke, you're going to die.

Madara was fine with that.

But he swore he'd live long enough to see the little bastard get what he deserved.

The only reason he hadn't been offed before now was that he had simply waited for the proper time. And so, tonight, Madara made his first and final move, a gambit that was sure to fail, but he'd try anyway because he was Uchiha fucking Madara. He could do anything he damn well wanted to.

Madara slipped from the compound Sasuke's army had chosen to inhabit and quickly made his way to his own secret base, hoping to at least set the spell in motion before he found a kunai in his spine. He settled himself before the stones that held the biju he'd managed to capture thus far and began the ritual for unsealing them. Without help from the Akatsuki – most of whom were dead and/or missing – it was slow going. Still, he'd managed to unseal one before one before Kusunagi decided she liked his chest for a new sheath.

Sasuke twisted the blade within Madara and tore it out his side, ripping muscle, snapping bone, and making a bloody mess of the man and the stone he was kneeling on. The pain was unimaginable, especially when the person stabbing you decided it would be a good idea to give you a matching injury on the other side. Madara, for his part, finished unsealing the first biju before he collapsed, staring up at Sasuke.

There was insanity in those Sharingan eyes. It only sharpened when he flicked the blood off Kusunagis's blade and crouched beside the older Uchiha.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull Madara," Sasuke said easily., "but I won't allow it."

"You're a little too late," Madara replied with a laugh. "You've got your head so far up your ass, I'm surprised you aren't eating the bullshit coming out of your mouth."

Sasuke blinked then snarled, bringing Kusunagi down on Madara's skull. The blade sunk deep into the stone, the kawarimi no jutsu pulled off in the nick of time. Still snarling, Sasuke swept out of the chamber, barking orders to have Madara found and killed. As an afterthought, he'd ordered the chamber closed and sealed, but it was already too late.

Gaara eased himself onto this bed, trying to ignore how his body ached. He'd let Temari and Kankurou talk him into going to bed early and let them handle the rest of his Kazekage duties for the evening. Considering the only thing he had left to do was sign off on the day's mission, bed had sounded like a great idea. So he'd showered and pulled on a pair of sweatpants that had decidedly belonged to his brother at one point in their existence and had crawled into bed, trying to ignore how shitty he felt.

It wasn't that he felt sick – he did – he just ached, too, like all of his muscles had decided rigor mortis was a good idea and Gaara was being an asshole, demanding them to work.

It started going wrong the moment his head touched his pillow. Right away, the nausea hit and the cold sweat stained his skin, feverish and far too cold at the same time He rolled, stumbling somehow to the bathroom before he pulled up what little Temari had shoved down his throat.

When he emerged, exhausted and grouchy as he was, he at least had the proper state of mind to at least pretend to be surprised at the presence of a slate-grey and blonde haired man reclining so comfortably on his bed.

Shukaku only grinned and gave the redhead an impudent little wave.


	10. Chapter 10

X

Naruto halted his group the moment Kyuubi announced he scented blood. A lot of blood, judging from he strong order that Naruto could pick up without Kyuubi's help. The blonde jounin directed his genin to lay low, to keep quiet. No sense to expose them to danger before Naruto was positive of what the danger was. Slowly, Naruto crept closer to the source of the blood-smell, carefully placing his feet to avoid leaves and branches. True, it would've been easier to teleport right here, but it would have left a trace of chakra, something to be followed.

Kyuubi appeared beside him, his face slowly twisting into a vicious snarl. Naruto almost asked what was the matter, but he felt the heat of anger and hate through their link and kept his mouth shut. A few minutes more of careful positioning, and Naruto no longer needed to ask Kyuubi why he was on the killing edge.

Against a tree lay a body. Broken and bloody as it was, life still struggled to keep a hold on it. Sharingan eyes glared defiantly at Kyuubi, the head tipped back to offer the throat in a dare. Kyuubi would have taken the dare – and probably would have finished off Madara – had not Naruto stepped in front of him, slowly approaching the dying man.

"Uzumaki," Madara wheezed out.

"Madara," Naruto replied in a colourless tone, stopping a good arms' length away. Not that it mattered, really, as the Uchiha seemed hardly inclined to move. "What are you doing, besides dying?"

"Hm? Oh, admiring the forest."

Naruto gave the older man a skeptical look. Kyuubi just snarled. Madara flicked his gaze from Naruto to Kyuubi and back again, humming quietly.

"Short story is that I betrayed Sasuke," Madara began. He paused to breathe for a few minutes. "He's planning to destroy all of Konoha, all the shinobi."

"A genocide," Naruto whispered. Madara watched those unnatural sapphire eyes darken and did his best to hide his grin when he saw the ghost tomoe curling gently around the pupil.

"I manage to release one biju. Sasuke has the rest, but I doubt he knows how to get them. Naruto, you need to stop him."

Naruto's eyes darkened even more as the blonde rose, looking to Madara and then to Kyuubi.

-Leave him.- Naruto ordered. Kyuubi looked scandalized. -Look, if we kill him, chances are we'll get hit with the jutsu he's prepared. Take the kids and get to Konoha. Tell Sakura to begin an evacuation. Only jounin are to return. Don't take them to the caves; Sasuke will be expecting that. Take them to the tower in the center of the Forest of Death.-

-And where are you going?- Kyuubi snarled.

Naruto cocked his head. -Suna.-

Gaara paced in his office, well aware of Shukaku's amusement. The creature hadn't once tried anything strange, but Gaara could feel the ichibi getting comfortable in his head again. It was a little distressing, after all. Two years without the beast had been a gift from God and now the smug asshole was back and acting like he owned the place.

Gaara's punch was well aimed, but Shukaku had been expecting it. The biju's hand caught Gaara's wrist and twisted, pulling his arm behind his back and forcing Gaara to bend over his desk, Shukaku pressing against the redhead to keep him in place.

"I think I need to teach you a lesson," Shukaku snarled.

Gaara snarled louder and the demon felt a cord of sand wrap around his throat. Without warning it constricted, cutting off Shukaku's air. The demon snarled without sound and flung his jinchuuriki from him, across the room. Gaara hit the wall hard, managing to keep his head from cracking against the wood somehow, and dropped to his knees, lips pulled back into a snarl when the sand noose was broken.

"Am I interrupting something?" Naruto asked mock-jovially, staring at the other pair.

"It's the Uzumaki brat." Shukaku snarled in perverse delight. "I owe you pain, don't I?"

"That was your own damn fault. I won fair and square and you know it."

Gaara snorted and got to his feet, brushing debris from his clothes. "What brings you here unannounced?"

"Uchiha."

Sadly, Naruto didn't have to elaborate.

"What's his plan?" Gaara asked, casting a sidelong glance at a fuming Shukaku.

"What else? Destroy everything, rule the world."

"Kill moose and squirrel, huh?" Shukaku asked in a laugh. "Sounds like an Uchiha all right."

"So what do you want us to do?" Gaara led Naruto to his new couch, offering the blonde a seat. Naruto shrugged and nearly sprawled on the cushions.

"Same thing I've gotten Konoha to do. He's going after the powerhouses first. Konoha being number one on the list and Suna a close second."

"An you don't think we're capable of defeating him?"

Naruto sighed. "I'm sure you can, but I'm thinking about those who will die. Sasuke's gone insane, if my source can be trusted, and he's gathered enough to him to grind every shinobi village to dust."

Gaara was silent for a while. "Your plan?"

"In Konoha, the jounin are the only ones staying to fight, not that they'll see much combat. Sasuke's focus is Konoha. If we concentrate all our jounin there, we'll be able to beat him."

"The civilians and chuunin?"

"Get them out. Abandon Suna. Take them to a safe house that only you would know about. Konoha's taking theirs to the Forest of Death. It's the last thing he'd be expecting."

"And us?"

Naruto's lips slowly split into a smile. "It'll be dangerous and we'll probably get a lot of shit for it afterward."

Gaara looked at Shukaku who only grinned. The redhead finally shrugged. "Let's do it."

"Start the evacuation. Order the jounin to regroup once the evacuation is complete and set lamps in the windows of houses. Right now surprise is out best element. If he does split his army, they'll come out when they see the lights before attacking."

"If we're lucky." Shukaku quipped.

"We just need to give him an incentive to be stupid." Gaara said quietly. Finally he nodded, rose, and moved to call his siblings. "You'll wait?" he asked Naruto.

The blonde jounin nodded. "I have to show you something anyway."


	11. Chapter 11

XI

Sasuke stared at the village of Konoha, at the shadows moving about so easily without a clue to their fate. Chakra signatures placed the population easily over what he remembered, but no matter. He would savour destroying them all. His army was restless, ready for the assault. But he held them back, wanting to wait for nightfall, wanting the element of surprise on his side.

Too bad his rival had already stolen it from him.

Hinata bounded carefully along the perimeter wall, revitalized the chakra tags tied onto the practice dummies. She was careful to stay within Neji's own chakra field, which allowed her to remain invisible to any prying eyes. Finished, she leapt from the wall and hurried back to her cousin. The Konoha and Suna jounin were gathered in the courtyard of the Academy, almost five thousand strong. All had a common goal, and all were friends in some way or another. She took hold of Neji's arm as she sidled up to him, carefully closer to her cousin. Neji simply tolerated the touch because she was Hinata and if he didn't Hiashi would probably kick his ass.

"Where's Naruto?" she asked. Neji shrugged.

"Same place as Gaara, I suppose."

Kiba and Shino walked over, followed quickly by the rest of the Rookie Nine and the two Sand Siblings. They spoke in quiet tones, just as hushed as the other jounin around them, trying to figure out what was going on.

The traps were set, everyone knew the plan and who's back to watch. So why weren't they deployed yet?

"Because," Sakura said quietly, "he's giving us a chance to leave."

"Idiot should know better." Kiba growled. Akamaru whuffed in agreement.

"It's Naruto-kun," Hinata said. "You know he hates the needless sacrifice of life."

"The kid's got a brain, I'll tell you that." Kankurou said softly. "this is quite the elaborate plan."

"I'm glad you guys approve so much," Naruto quipped as he and Gaara appeared in the courtyard. Kankurou shrugged.

"Just know that if you die, we're going to kill you." Sakura relied cheerily.

Naruto laughed. "You'll have to wait until Kyuubi and Shukaku are done with us."

Gaara nudged Naruto. "It's time."

The blonde nodded and moved to stand where all could see him, which meant the five foot six blonde had to stand on the swing. All eyes, Suna and Konoha, turned to him.

"Look," Naruto started, "I'm not good at speeches. You know the plan – stick to it word for word. Tsunade's acting as bait, so you have to protect all the routes to her. On the streets and roofs. The traps should take out plenty, but they won't be his best. Don't waste your chakra on them; wait for Sasuke's shinobi. Take out the legs to he army and leave the head to Gaara and I."

"Retreat when you see the flare." Gaara's quiet voice filtered into the night air. "Get into the Forest of Death and make for the Tower. Do not stop and do not come back until sunrise."

No one questioned the orders from the jinchuuriki pair. They simply nodded and vanished to their posts, each ready to guard each other's backs and made sure everyone got out alive.

Naruto looked at Gaara. "Ready?"

Gaara's lips quirked. "Are you?"

Naruto shook his head and disappeared.


	12. Chapter 12

XII

Tsunade sat quietly in her designated spot, reading some of Jiraya's old filth. It was really all she could do, considering she was only acting as bait. Any paperwork she'd try to get done would end up incinerated and she couldn't afford that. Not when Naruto was positive his plan would work. She was alone, that was for sure. She'd sent Shizune with the rest of the refugees to the Forest of Death, knowing they would need medics by the time this was over. This was a war, after all.

Tsunade was on her feet in a flash, watching the sky light up with Kyuubi's fire. Agonized screams accompanied the conflagration, but Tsunade knew none of those screams came from her shinobi. Kyuubi, she knew, would never hurt anyone who belonged to Naruto. She watched the flames encircle the perimeter just like that day two years ago, protecting what was within from what was without.

Tsunade whirled around, fist leading. It was caught, however, and Madara pinned the woman with a decidedly deadly stare.

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade hissed, jerking her fist back from Madara's grip.

"I think I'm going to die for the only man worthy of my life." Madara snapped back.

Tsunade blinked. "You're going to die for Naruto?"

Madara snorted. "I'm dying anyway. Might as well make the most of it."

"He doesn't know you're here, does he?"

"I'd imagine he has an idea. He won't stop me, though, considering what I've done."

Tsunade's lips thinned but she nodded. "You really think Sasuke will get through?"

"I guarantee it," Madara replied, easing himself onto the stone ground. "Naruto will let him through, and when he arrives here, he'll be destroyed."

Tsunade didn't know if she sat down from shock a the fact Naruto was deliberately using her life as a pawn of the fact that Naruto hadn't told her she was being used as a pawn.

"Relax, woman," Madara snarled. "He won't let you die."

Tsunade slashed a glare at the Uchiha. He gave her a mild look in return and then turned that Sharingan gaze to the sky. A moment later his smirk became deadly. Tsunade turned slightly, seeing the signal flare begin to dissipate. She felt all of the shinobi of Konoha and Suna gather their wounded and retreat from the village, just as she felt him approach. Tsunade got to her feet, ready to fight, watching with apprehension as Sasuke approached.

He was bruised and bloody but hardly broken, and he was focused entirely on her. Tsunade felt a hand on her shoulder and watched Madara move forward to confront his descendant.

"I knew I smelled a rat," Sasuke hissed, hand falling to his side as lightning crackled around his arm.

Madara simply shrugged. "The moment I die, Sasuke, is the moment you die, too."

Sasuke laughed and bolted forward, the Chidori slamming into Madara's chest. The elder Uchiha hadn't even blinked, hadn't flinched, just had taken the hit. It took Tsunade two minutes to realize the trap. Sasuke realized it far too late. Madara laughed, a cold, cruel sound as his jutsu activated. Tsunade dropped to the ground as the black tendrils erupted form Madara's body, seeking out their intended target. Sasuke yanked on his arm and just barely made it back a safe distance before a tendril found him and ended his life. Madara just continued to laugh and stare at Sasuke with blood red eyes as flesh melted and bone became ash. There was nothing left of Madara then, and Tsunade was vulnerable.

Sasuke seemed to realize this as well.

"So, Hokage-sama," Sasuke snarled, approaching the woman step by agonizingly slow step, "it seems we're alone at last."

"Seems that way." Tsunade replied, getting to her feet.

"Sad that I have to kill you." Sasuke said as though he was inspecting his nails. Tsunade tried not to laugh too hard.

"I don't think you'll even get near me." She said in a far more brave voice.

Sasuke simply canted his head, grinned, and vanished. Hands slid around Tsunade's throat as Sasuke reappeared behind her, pressure building to cut off her air.

"Hey! Sasuke-teme! I'm going to take that sword and shove it up your ass!"

Both Sasuke and Tsunade looked up, and Sasuke reluctantly released the Hokage to avoid Naruto's falling attack. Sand whipped in then, cutting off any escape, and creating a shield around Tsunade. She felt a hand close on her shoulder and looked up at Gaara – and the real Naruto.

"Go, Tsunade–baa-san," Naruto whispered. "Gaara and I have it from here."

The blonde woman blinked and saw Naruto henge into her – and saw a perfect clone of Naruto standing at the ready. Gaara helped her to her feet and gave Tsunade a gentle push.

"Go, Hokage-sama. Don't let what we're going to do be in vain." Gaara whispered.

Tsunade didn't bother to ask; she simply nodded at both shinobi and vanished. Gaara looked to Naruto and canted his head, eyes narrowing somewhat.

"Are you sure this will work?"

The Naruto-Tsunade shrugged. "We'll see. Get clear."

Gaara nodded and disappeared into the sand shield just as Sasuke broke through, blood red eyes centered on Naruto's clone and Naruto-Tsunade. The crazed Uchiha bared his teeth and snarled. Naruto-Tsunade looked to the clone with a smile.

"Ready, Kyuubi?"


	13. Chapter 13

XIII

It had to be executed at the proper time, and so in order to buy time, Gaara and Naruto had created this diversion. It probably wasn't enough and Sasuke probably saw right through it, but the pair were counting on Sasuke's hubris. Gaara, watching carefully, imagined Sasuke much like an irritated bull, trying to squash the matador. Naruto and Kyuubi were doing their part in keeping the Uchiha busy, carefully keeping him away from the sand walls.

-Gaara.- Came Shukaku's voice, -The sun is rising.-

Gaara nodded, though he knew the demon couldn't see him, and slowly emerged from the sand shield, catching Naruto's eye. The blonde took a page from Neji's book and launched into a flurry of attacks that drove Sasuke back, but also destroyed his henge.

The look on Sasuke's face was priceless.

He'd been deceived by the idiot ninja Naruto. Now he was going to die. Sasuke jus didn't know that yet.

Naruto fell back to stand beside Gaara, the two acutely aware that their biju were waiting for their shining moment. Sasuke began his final run then, moving toward the pair while performing his final jutsu. He was talking, but neither Gaara nor Naruto paid him any heed. The two jinchuuriki just turned to face each other, hands mirroring each other's jutsu perfectly.

The sand shield began to roar as it rotated, spinning faster and faster until it actually seemed to heat up. Over and over the two jinchuuriki performed their combination until wind within the sand shield was driving all three within to their knees. But Gaara and Naruto refused to submit, instead turning to face Sasuke who had begun to simply to defend himself.

Naruto and Gaara's left hands met up high, the mirror jutsu pressed together. Their right hands met low, crossed at the wrist and turned.

Sasuke's eyes went wide.

Shukaku's roar stilled the sand.

Kyuubi's roar ignited the lames around the sand orb – within the sand orb.

Tsunade, along with the whole of Konoha and Suna, screamed a wordless protest and denial.

Naruto's Aoisharingan activated and the flames erupted into a column that reached above – well above – the treeline of the forest. Then the flames spiraled out of existence.

Sakura and Temari were the first to the scene of the final battle, quickly followed by everyone else. There was no sign of Naruto or Gaara; only Sasuke, blackened beyond recognition and charred to glass, lay in a ring of sand. The entire village was silent, just staring at the sight that the Kazekage and Naruto had left them.

A voice choked with tears ordered a search and ordered for all the bodies to be disposed of. It took Tsunade a few moments to recognize that it was hers.

Suigetsu leaned against Juugo, watching Karin discuss something with the kid he knew to be Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke was dead, no doubt about that, so why had Naruto and the Kazekage come here? To tell Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin to get the hell out, obviously. Not that it mattered, anyway. Suigetsu had only been following Sasuke to get at Samehada. Now there was no need to follow and he could hunt on his own. Of course, Juugo would follow him. He always did. Karin was free to go where she liked.

Whatever they did, the message was clear.

If they returned to Konoha or Suna for any reason, they wouldn't be getting back out.

Karin bowed slightly to Naruto and jogged back to Juugo and Suigetsu. The two men said nothing and simply turned to follow her until they'd crossed the border.

Juugo's hand tightened on Suigetsu's. The blonde looked back and saw it too. He could only grin and cant his head before tugging on the tall redhead's hand.

"Come on," Suigetsu said, "let's get go find an adventure."

Juugo brightened. "I like adventures."

Suigetsu just laughed hard and looked back only once to see that Naruto had indeed vanished. But he was being watched. No doubt about that.

Gaara leaned against Naruto's back as the blonde leaned against his, the two sharing a silence. It was over. Finally, they could relax a bit and worry about other matters. Like dealing with their grieving villages.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go back now?" Gaara asked.

"Can you move?" Gaara kept his silence. "Didn't think so."

"We wait?"

"Kyuubi and Shukaku should be back soon," Naruto said in a tired voice. Gaara just sighed and closed his eyes.

He wasn't aware that he'd fallen asleep until Shukaku lifted him up, and the Kazekage stared blearily at the Ichibi. Shukaku only smiled a bit, and shushed his jinchuuriki. A glance toward Naruto showed the blonde blissfully unconscious in the arms of Kyuubi, so Gaara shrugged and closed his eyes again.

Shukaku looked up at his king and found Kyuubi smiling at him. The young biju just tilted his head before returning the smile.

"Let's go home." Kyuubi said.


	14. Chapter 14

Epilogue

Naruto propped his head on his fist and watched his genin cavort in the swimming hole, relaxed in the shade of a tree. Kyuubi sat beside him, eyes closed and head back, taking deep breaths to catch all the different scents in the air. It had been difficult even getting out here today, since everyone wanted to make sure Naruto was okay. Most jounin had begun to treat Naruto as they would treat Tsunade and Naruto was sure some were around, trying to be inconspicuous.

After the two biju had returned Gaara and Naruto to Konoha, the quartet had been assaulted by friends and – in Gaara's case – family, a myriad of questions and demands, and then shut up in the hospital for a few good weeks.

Actual damage was a minimum thanks to Naruto's Aoisharingan, so their stay was basically so they could rest without being mobbed.

"There you are." Sakura said, setting down her picnic basket beside Naruto. "I was looking everywhere for you."

"Uh-huh." Naruto smiled. "Where's everyone else?"

"On their way. I can't believe you're doing this."

"Doing what?" Naruto asked innocently. Kyuubi made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a choke. Sakura sighed and shook her head.

"You're a pain in the ass." Sakura said forlornly.

"We've been over this," Naruto replied. He sat up and stretched aware of how attentive Kyuubi had become. The pink-haired woman sighed.

Over the next few hours, the other jounin and chuunin began to trickle in, genin following with towels and other things for swimming. Both rose to help set up the picnic, laughing and joking with their friends. Once the food was ready, a quick game of genin-tossing ensued, children's voices raised as they tried and failed to win against the stronger jounin and chuunin.

By dusk, every stomach was filled and the male members of the Rookie Nine vanished in order to bring out something Naruto had gotten from out of storage. Everyone found a seat and watched Naruto and Sakura set the firecrackers up, aimed for the sky. All was silent except for the occasional chirp of cicadas, and the genin – and several jounin – shifted in anticipation.

Naruto held up his stick, carefully keeping the flame away from the explosives. It illuminated him to those gathered, allowing him to be heard.

"We've all come a long away," He began, "and we've lost a lot. But we have also gained all that we lost back in some way. So tonight, don't remember what we no longer have. Let's remember what we do have."

Silence met his words until Team Four leapt to their feet and shouted, "Arigatou, Rokudaime-sensei!" The cheer continued on.  
Naruto shook his head and laughed, launching his firework into the darkened skies. The cheer changed into laughter and talking, and Naruto handed his stick to Sakura, quietly slipping away to find Kyuubi waiting for him.

The pair slipped away in the darkness, both far too eager to wait for actual privacy. Naruto arched into Kyuubi's mouth as the elder slipped his hands under Naruto's back, nipping and nibbling at the young man's chest until the blonde was breathless. Kyuubi wasted no time in turning his mate onto his knees, and carefully pushed his fingers and tongue into Naruto's passage. Kyuubi was grateful for the fact they'd used his robes as a bed, for had Naruto not bitten into the cloth, his sounds would have brought every shinobi in the vicinity down on them.

Kyuubi nibbled and licked every inch of his lover that he could reach, stretching him enough so the boy wouldn't cry out in pain when he was finally taken.

"Kyuubi!" Naruto gasped out unexpectedly. "Please!"

If the demon hadn't been fighting to hold himself in check since Naruto first began whimpering, he would have taken the boy right then. Instead, he purred and leaned over Naruto, nibbling at the younger's ear.

"Please what?"

Naruto whined. Kyuubi laughed and relented, pulling back and pulled Naruto with him. He turned the jinchuuriki to face him and spread the boy's legs enough that Kyuubi slid inside the blonde without a problem. Naruto bit his shoulder as he was filled, mewling as he took Kyuubi in up to the hilt.

Off in the distance, firecrackers squealed in glee before exploding into a myriad of colours. Kyuubi shifted his hips, and Naruto bent his knees to ride. It was a slow, leisurely coupling; something Kyuubi hadn't done in a long, long time. Pleasure built up slowly, pooling in their lower abdomens until it had nowhere else to go. Kyuubi fell forward, grabbing up Naruto's legs and propping them on his shoulders, bending his lover in half as he pounded into him.

Naruto was trying so hard not to cry out too loudly, biting into his fists, eyes closed tight as his muscles contracted around Kyuubi's cock, driving the demon to thrust harder until Naruto squeaked.

Kyuubi gave a snarl as lights exploded behind his eyes, his body giving a final shudder as he filled his jinchuuriki with his seed. Naruto gave a breathy cry as he felt his insides warmed even more, his chest and stomach a sticky mess of sweat and come. Kyuubi pulled from his lover's body, carefully licking the boy clean. Naruto casually returned the favour, and Kyuubi grabbed the blonde for another round.

Sated – finally – and sore, Kyuubi held Naruto close as they watched the sky brightened with sparkles of colour. They'd come through so much in such a short amount of time it was amazing they were still breathing.

Naruto's hand sought out Kyuubi's and clutched tight. Kyuubi simply kissed the top of Naruto's head and leaned back against the tree trunk, listening to the night sounds, the firecrackers, and Naruto's own breathing.

For the first time in a long while, Kyuubi was glad to be in such a place. He was happy to be a protector instead of a destroyer.

Naruto squeezed Kyuubi's hand.

Kyuubi squeezed back.


End file.
